B Vitamins Don't Cut Repeat Vascular Events

Say it ain't so.

Taking vitamin B supplements does not appear to reduce vascular risk in patients who have suffered a stroke or a transient ischemic attack, a randomized controlled trial showed.

The clinical trial, conducted among more than 8,000 patients in 20 countries, found that the rate of stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death was not significantly different between those who received a B vitamin supplement as part of usual care and those given placebo (15% versus 17%; RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.00), according to Graeme Hankey, MD, of Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, and colleagues.

The trial results add to data from other trials of vitamin B supplementation that have failed to show a benefit for stroke, MI, or vascular death, the researchers reported online in The Lancet Neurology.

"These results do not support the use of B vitamins to prevent recurrent stroke," they wrote. "The results of ongoing trials and an individual patient data meta-analysis will add statistical power and precision to present estimates of the effect of B vitamins."

Time to stop wasting money at Whore Foods.